


here (in your arms)

by livmoores



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, I SAID LIGHT DAMMIT, Light Angst, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27343543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livmoores/pseuds/livmoores
Summary: Ingrid's job isn't easy and despite preparing for it in text books, the loss of life is hard. But with Sylvain by her side, things suddenly seem a lot easier.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	here (in your arms)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nicole_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicole_writes/gifts), [paperpenpal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperpenpal/gifts), [sunnilee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnilee/gifts).



> on the challenge of "can ash write fluff" the answer is yes, sometimes we just have some angst to get to said fluff. fight me.
> 
> happy birthday, you three. <3 (but ash!!! it's the first of our month!!! not our birthdays!!! idgaf im doing this at once and it's november it's birth month come at me)
> 
> *brief mention of animal death, as ingrid is a vet. tbh i also have no idea the vet training process, just go with it, it's fine.

The day had dragged on.

At first, everything started okay. The patients were typical: a dog that got attacked by bees, a routine check-up for a cat, and a rabbit that the owner insisted something was wrong with because said rabbit wouldn’t eat carrots. The appointments were typical, save for one or two emergencies due to a cat having an allergic reaction. These were the things Ingrid was used to. 

What she wasn’t used to, despite hours pouring over books to prepare for it, was the shift from “routine” to “emergency.” Her hands started shaking when the first emergency call came in. It was her third day at this twenty-four-hour hospital, shadowing a vet, to learn the ropes. When she stared at the injured animal, she froze.  _ Someone needs to help you _ was what she had thought before she realized that that was  _ her  _ job. 

She shifted to auto-pilot as she shadowed one of the vets. Ingrid took their guidance, answered questions, and assisted the best as she could. Within an hour, the animal was on the mend after surgery. She was a little shell-shocked, but her attending congratulated her on getting her through her first surgery without vomiting. Ingrid almost laughed; she reason she hadn’t run to the restroom to expel her lunch was that there was no lunch to expel.

Unfortunately, the emergencies continued throughout the day. They got worse as time went on but they were able to pull through at the last minute. It was almost a miracle. It left Ingrid hopeful when the last emergency of her shift came in. There was nothing that could be done; they did everything they could to save the animal. The injuries were too extensive. Despite an hour hunched over an operation table, her attending called it.

The shell-shock from her first surgery was replaced by the sudden realization that an animal had died under her watch. She ran to the bathroom, threw up, and came back out with tears down her eyes. Ingrid had studied for this. She knew it was going to happen. It was the price of being a veterinarian. She couldn’t save everyone.

Preparing it, and facing it head-on, were two different things.

Her attending dismissed her for a day, to give her a chance to get back on her feet. At least the attending was empathetic. Ingrid changed out of her scrubs and took the subway home, her expression void, and brain empty as she tried to process the events of the day. Time had slowed down significantly.

“Hey babe! I have- shit, Ing, are you okay?”

Ingrid blinked. She stared at the keys in her hands. How long had she been home? Ingrid could barely remember walking through the door, let alone stepping off the subway. The last thing she remembered was sitting down on the subway and playing a Facebook game on her phone. Ingrid cleared her throat and gave him a fake smile.

“Just a long day at work,” she said as she shrugged out of her coat. She sniffed the air, her mouth-watering at the smell of chili. “Chili and cornbread? It smells wonderful. I’m starving.” Her stomach rumbled as if on queue, to prove a point, nevermind the fact that she had thrown up any food she had eaten earlier.

“You’re always starving,” Sylvain teased as he took Ingrid’s coat. His eyes narrowed as he studied his girlfriend, noticing how exhausted and worn down she looked. “What happened at work?” He asked as he put the coat away.

“Nothing.”

It was a lie. Sylvain would see right through it. Ingrid stepped out of her shoes and made her way towards the couch, where she flopped down. She didn’t want to talk about it. She wanted to forget what had happened. Ingrid was home, she was away from work, and her boyfriend was cooking. So why was she still fighting the urge to cry? 

“Don’t bullshit me, Ingrid.” Sylvain crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at Ingrid. “We’ve been friends for years. You zone out and then when you come too, you pretend nothing happened. Something happened. What happened?” 

Ingrid’s eyes locked with his. A sense of relief flooded over her as she looked at Sylvain’s concerned expression. She bit her lip and grabbed his hand, pulling him down into her on the couch. Sylvain instantly wrapped his arms around her, held her in a hug, and kissed the crown of her head.

“What happened, babe?”

Images of blood flashed in front of her eyes. She winced. She found herself frustrated at the circumstances. If one animal’s death did this to her, how was she supposed to handle the rest of her job? It was the circle of life. It was the price of being a veterinarian. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, animals died. 

“Nothing we did worked,” Ingrid muttered after a moment of silence. “It was my last patient. It was… the poor thing got hit by a car. The injuries were too severe. We did everything we could but they still died.” Ingrid pulled away from Sylvain’s grasp, her eyes glassy as she stared at her boyfriend. “Nothing we did could save them.”

Sylvain tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind Ingrid’s ear. Sylvain had been preparing for this moment. Ingrid had been lucky when it came to her rotations and hadn’t been directly involved in the death of an animal. Sylvain knew that it didn’t matter how many times she said she was ready, that her books made” her prepared, it would still be different when it came to experiencing your first loss. Sylvain knew it well. 

“But you did everything you could, right?” Ingrid nodded. “I know it’s hard baby, but you did everything you could. And you’ve said it yourself: sometimes that’s just the way life is. You did everything you could and gave it your all. That’s all that animal, or you can ask for.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Books can’t prepare you for that kind of emotional experience, you know that.”

Ingrid wanted to scoff in response but sighed. He was right. She had hidden behind the reality of books. Everyone in the vet program had told her that you could prepare for your first death all you wanted but it would still hit you differently. Hell, Ingrid had told Sylvain the same thing the first night he came home after starting his probationary firefighter period and lost someone. Books didn’t prepare you for the reality of it.

The blonde leaned into Sylvain and sniffled. A laugh escaped her lips as she processed what he was saying. She hated how he was right and that he was using her own words against him, but she appreciated his words. Ingrid also appreciated that he wasn’t going to continue on the topic. She didn’t want to dwell on it more so than she already had. How much time had she lost as she had gone numb?

A timer dinged in the background. Sylvain jolted up from the couch and grabbed Ingrid’s hand, pulling her off the couch with such force that she stumbled on her feet.

“Food’s ready!” 

Sylvain tugged on her hand and pulled her into the kitchen. Ingrid stared at him, wide-eyed. The redhead was going to give her whiplash. Just mere seconds ago he had been comforting her on their couch and as soon as the timer went off, he changed direction. She couldn’t help but laugh. 

The food distraction was working well. Sylvain knew her well. Her heart swelled at the image of him hunched over the pot of chili, clumsily using one hand to stir it and the other to hold hers. Sothis, she loved him

“Really?! You’re just going to pull me off the couch with no warning for  _ food _ ?” 

Sylvain rolled his eyes as he released their intertwined hands. “Babe, it’s food. Of course I am. Besides, I know you, and I know you barely ate anything this morning and it’s likely you didn’t eat your lunch and or threw it up.” He pulled the spoon out of the pot. “Don’t argue, you know I’m right. Now shut up and put this in your mouth.” 

“Sylvain!”

Sylvain inched the chili spoon closer to her. “I’m serious. Open wide and taste it.”

With the chili spoon at the edge of her lips, Ingrid reached up and took the spoon away from him. She wasn’t going to open her mouth in front of him and give him that satisfaction. She took a bite of the chili. The tension in her shoulders relaxed as the flavours engulfed her. She didn’t realize how hungry she had been until the bite of chili.

Ingrid licked the spoon and tossed it into the sink. “That was wonderful. Please tell me dinner is ready now. I’m starving.”

Sylvain smirked. Ingrid felt her heart flutter, even though she was bracing for a dick joke. He opened his mouth to make a suggestion but clamped it shut. Instead of speaking, he put a hand on Ingrid’s waist and pulled her closer to him.

“Do not make a dessert joke. I want food first.” Ingrid could practically feel the saliva at the corner of her mouth. If he didn’t have his arms on his waist, she would have taken the pot of chili off the stove, grabbed a spoon, and run away with it. 

“You want this meat first?” Sylvain grinned, his eyes mischievous.

Ingrid groaned and rested her head on his chest. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that she was smiling at his joke. Sylvain laughed and moved one of his hands so he could gently cup her chin. He pulled her chin up so he could look at her, the love and admiration clear in his eyes.

“Is my distraction working? Are you feeling better?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m feeling better. The distraction isn’t working because now I’m thinking about food. I’m really hungry,” she feigned whining. She wasn’t lying; Ingrid felt significantly better and her mood had started to improve the moment she stepped into the apartment and saw Sylvain.

“Good.”

Sylvain leaned down and closed the distance between the two of them. He tasted like a combination of chili spices. Ingrid smiled against his lips as she titled her head to the side to deepen the kiss. Before she could get lost in the moment, her stomach grumbled and Sylvain pulled away. 

“Okay, okay. Your stomach monster wins. I don’t want a repeat of what happens when you don’t have food. I have learned that when your girlfriend is upset, feed her. And if she’s still upset, feed her again.” Sylvain gave her a chaste kiss and pulled away from her. “Dig in, babe. Just leave some scraps for me, okay?”

“Bold if you to assume I’ll leave you anything,” Ingrid replied as she scrambled to dish up her plate. 

Sylvain’s loud laughter filtered through her ears. The smile that was lingering on her face started to grow.

“I love you,” she said softly as she continued to dish up her food. Saying I love you was new in their relationship; the blush spread across her cheeks.

“I love you too, Ing. I’m always going to be here for you.” 

She might have been exhausted, perhaps still a little numb from the events previously, but as long as Sylvain was by her side, she knew she could get through whatever life threw at her.


End file.
